One More Chance
by CrazyPandaHat05
Summary: Kiyo Namazaki is a young Kunoichi from the Hidden Village of the Sand, whose life has been turned upside down because of the village's supreme weapon, Gaara. Being sent to Konoha, she is forced to train in order to become strong enough to assassinate Gaara. But what will be the outcome? Will they both become friends, or remain as enemies? Read along to find out.
1. Chapter 1

The universe holds many mysteries, each of which that is different between the real world, and that of which we fantasise about day by day through the use of movies and books. However, there is always that one fragmented detail that will always be the same; And that is the corruption built through war, violence and discrimination.

After the Third Shinobi War which brought forth a tremendous yet unpredictable battle between the five main reigning countries, things had finally calmed down. Each country kept to themselves. There was no alliance or even any sort of communication between the lands. Then again, after what had happened, it was understandable that they needed time to rebuild their own civilisation.

It was no different for Sunakagure, otherwise known as the Village Hidden in the Sand, a village located within the desert, isolated from the rest of the world. Because of the treacherous journey towards the village, they didn't suffer as much damage, other than the unaccountable deaths of those who fought in the war. Grief was spread to those who had lost family members, silence proceeding to push the hidden village into a state of recollection.

But as well as death, there was also life.

Not too long after peace was finally restored, a little girl was born in the Namazaki clan, one of which was built upon with prestige, strictness and high rank, next to that of the Fourth Kazekage and his family. Her mother and father branded her the name Kiyo, a name defining 'Purity' as if it was a way of foretelling that she was going to be bring honour to their small clan, as well as the village.

Her upbringing wasn't anything special, just the normality in the ninja world. Along with the unconditional, supporting love from her parents and friends that she had made, everything seemed to be going well in the midst of her early childhood.

However, there was one day that changed all of that.

Each and every child that was born in the village was brought into the Academy, a curriculum that was made to test the young minds of the future, and pick out those who had less to none potential.

Luckily Kiyo, who had been around eight years old, was one that was taught at an early age. Although it wasn't much, by the time she had been initiated into the Academy, she was able to do simple skills that would get her by the 'elimination process'. But there was one individual that always caught her eye during her time there, and that was the Kazekage's youngest son, and the Jinjūriki of Sunagakure, Gaara.

To the crimson haired girl, this wouldn't have surprised her if it was someone who was as per say, normal. But there was something about the male that intrigued her. Perhaps it was the sad, lonely look in his eyes that screamed out and begged eternally for a friend, or the innocent smile that he always gave to others, despite never receiving anything of the sorts back.

Every adult detested him, treated him like some sort of monster, whilst children who were told about him normally stayed away due to fear and deterrence.

She was also told about the situation with the red haired male. At birth, he was made to be the vessel of the One-Tailed fox beast, Shukaku, a creature with intense, destructive power, fuelled only on rage and hatred. This fact alone made it easy to understand why everyone was scared of him, but what Kiyo couldn't understand was how a child like him had to suffer as a consequence, to be treated as an outcast by his own kind. It was sad, but that was just reality.

All he wanted was a friend…

Another day had finally ended, the sun setting in the horizons beyond the tall, stone walls of the village, causing the sky to turn from a cloudless bright blue, to a heavenly haze of golden yellow, pink and orange. This was the time that most people came out of their homes, considering during the daytime, everything turned into a chore with the intense heat.

Just at this point in time was when the streets were teeming with life. The adults socialised among themselves, whilst the kids went to play together or even get up to some harmless mischief. All but one…

Gaara…

The lonely boy trailed himself through the streets of the village, hoping to at least find someone to help out but all he received was a set of scared and judgemental glares. This was nothing new, but despite being a regular occurrence, it still caused him pain. He was hurt, and the only person around he could admit that to was his maternal uncle, the only person who would see him as an innocent child, rather than a monster.

Even when he tried to join in with the kids his own age, it only ended with them running away elsewhere, leaving him isolated, alone and confused. Why was this even happening to him? Even his siblings were getting the same treatment. All of this pain and because he had a tailed beast sealed within him, waiting for it's chance to come out into the open to wreck havoc.

Tears began to grow in his eyes as he wandered away from the crowd, clutching his teddy bear that he always had for comfort tightly towards his chest for a sense of warmth for his cold, aching heart.

However, unlike the rest of the kids, there was a certain child who had seen through the beast within him.

"Hey? Are you okay?" Spoke out a voice behind Gaara, which alerted immediately. Maybe he was just overhearing someone else's conversation so he didn't keep his hopes up for the impossible. Quickly wiping his eyes with his arm, he slowly turned his head over his shoulder.

He noticed a young girl about his age, possibly a little older than he was by a couple of years. She had peachy toned skin with darker spotted marks across her cheek bones that she gained from her father, and eyes the colour of a lush spring day and long, flowing red hair the same colour as a crimson red rose that she got from her mother's side.

Despite being young, she was relatively attractive to the male she was talking to, but because of his shy demeanour, he would have never gotten the courage to say something like that. After all, with someone coming up to him, genuinely worried about him, he didn't want to ruin that and make the girl run away in fear.

The female awaited patiently for a response, a concerned yet friendly smile never leaving her lips for a second.

Gaara turned around to her, his teal blue eyes showing a hint of hope.

"I'm… I'm okay, now… It's just, I don't understand why people are always trying avoid me… I'm not trying to hurt them in any way."

It was then that he paused for a brief moment, a thought, or more so, a question popping up in his mind. He didn't want to ask it in case he was given an answer that would break his heart even more than it was but even with his shred of confidence, he managed to.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

The question surprised Kiyo for a brief moment, however she knew why he was asking. He needed a friend, someone that would be there for him when no one else was. If she truly was afraid of him, then it wouldn't end well at all.

"I don't have any reason to be afraid of you." She simply implied, her expression turning rather serious, yet sympathetic at the same time. "You haven't done anything to hurt me at all, so why should I hate you?" She asked rhetorically. In a sense, it was a good statement to ask. After all, she seen the human side of him, rather than what was hiding deep within him.

"Let's be friends."

Friends?

Never to this day had Gaara was expecting to hear that one word being emphasised towards him. She wanted to be friends with him, someone who was being forced to play the role as a special military weapon for their own benefit. It must have been a dream come true for the male.

With an ecstatic smile that was very rarely seen, and a nod of his head, he agreed to Kiyo's offer about being friends.

Within days of secretly meeting up with each other, the two became as close as they could ever get. Every day at around the same time, they would always just find a quiet place and talk, as if there was nothing else going on in the world and that there was nobody that could ruin their happiness, especially Gaara's.

He was always impatiently waiting for that certain point in time where he could finally see this mysterious girl again who just showed up out of the blue one day but even in those few days, he began to experience feelings for her that he didn't even know that he had. It was indescribable! It was as if his heart and every part of his internal being was still aching, but in a good way. Her kind smile, her friendly attitude. She was everything to him, and even if he didn't understand it at all, he didn't want to lose their friendship.

However, what he didn't realize as of yet was that the world surrounding the both of them, was about to come crumbling down.

Word had been spreading around in secrecy within the village about the two spending a great deal of their free time together, and just as quickly, word was given to Kiyo's parents, who weren't at all happy about the ordeal, especially considering that they had warned her to stay away from Gaara when she had first joined the academy. It was all out of worry and protection.

But they were definitely going have a word with her…

Another meet up, which they didn't know was going to be their last, had finally came to an end. Each time, they kept stating that time had pressed on even quicker than they anticipated, considering how they both got so lost in their conversations that they never actually realised.

However, it was time to give their good-byes.

After giving their final few words, they both left and returned back to the safety of their homes before darkness filled the entire village with peaceful silence. But unlike Gaara, upon opening the door, she was greeted by her parents, and not in the same friendly way as they always did.

"We've been hearing around that you have been interacting with Gaara. Is this true?" The father asked with a stern tone, one of which was enough to bring shivers down the child's spine. After all, she had never seen her parents angry, but the fact that they were previous shinobi that have fought valiantly since their own childhood, she never wished to get on their bad side. That alone was enough to bring forth the truth.

Without giving a single hint of a noise, she silently nodded, to which caused her mother to sigh in disbelief.

"We told you to stay away from that boy. He's trouble. The last thing we need is for you to get caught up in Shukaku's attacks if he was to go out of control."

But that wasn't all…

As the entire village knew, anyone affiliated with the Jinjūriki was to be treated in the same way, whether it was his siblings, or any sort of friends. They were treated like outcasts, and with such a high ranked, yet small clan, this was unacceptable, and Kiyo knew this well.

With opening her mouth in order to proclaim, to defend the young Jinjūriki, she knew that this was an argument that she could not win. No one has ever taken a child seriously in this day and age, and she doubt that would start now.

"Okay..." She murmured in defeat.

"Good, just know that we are only doing this for your own safety. Myself and your mother would not be able to cope if something bad happened to you." Her father responded, kneeling down to her own height to speak to her eye to eye.

"Now that that is sorted, dinner will be ready soon so be sure that you get cleaned up..." Her mother said in a subtle tone, kneeling down to kiss her daughter on the forehead. Moments later, the only noise that occupied the room was her own thoughts, insisting that she had just made the worst mistake. There was surely to be consequences but she had no choice. As much as she wanted to see the young red haired boy, she couldn't disobey her parents.

Not again…

Meanwhile, in the Suna household, Gaara wanted to get some ideas on how to surprise Kiyo, however with his relationship with his father and siblings, there was only one person that he could turn to, and that was Yashamaru, his uncle.

"Someone looks pretty happy." He spoke out in a kind, calm voice upon being confronted by the strangely smiling child. "Did something happen today?"

As much as Gaara wanted to speak on and on, to the point of rambling, he couldn't bare to embarrass himself in such a way. Even what he was planning on saying brought a layer of pink to grow across his face whilst it was lowered.

"I… I want to give something to this friend, although I don't know what exactly..." He responded quietly and quite vaguely, his thumbs fiddling together nervously, which brought a humorous yet proud smile to grow on the sandy haired adults face.

All these years, he wanted to see Gaara be happy. He loved him dearly and was even mad about his father giving such a kind hearted child a tormenting life. However, since he worked directly under Gaara's father, the fourth Kazekage, he had no right to object his decisions. All he could do was stop his nephew falling down into the brink of insanity.

"And does this friend happen to be a girl?"

The question caused Gaara's head to pop up in surprise, the pink aura across his cheeks turning the colour of his hair.

"How… How did you know?"

"Just a guess." He responded with a loving smile, his finger tapping on his chin in thought.

"You know, my sister… Your mother loved flowers. You could try to give her some desert roses. I'm sure that she will love them and I will be able to get them tomorrow if you'd like."

The idea caused Gaara's face to glow with joy, his head moving up and down quickly. He liked the idea and better yet, he didn't have to say anything that would ruin the moment, or even do anything to screw up.

"Very well. I will collect some tomorrow. I still can't believe how fast you are growing. Our little man is falling in love."

Love? Was that that feeling he has been feeling as of recently? The growing butterflies in his stomach and his heart beating so much that he was pretty sure that that was the cause of the bearable aching.

"What...What is love?" Gaara asked softly, his hand closing on his clothing to where the heart was located. "Why does it hurt?"

"Love is an intense emotion." Yashamaru began in thought about what to say. "It's something that you feel towards somebody that you care about, someone that you can't afford to let go. At least in this case, that's what love is." His voice softened upon ending his explanation.

"However, love comes in all forms, even that of family. You're father may not show it as much as he should, but he truly does love you, as do your siblings."

Gaara nodded in response, although not saying a word in response. Although it should have been as easy to piece together the facts Yashamaru was telling him, he also came to the conclusion about one thing.

Love was complicated…

"Now, why don't you run along. I have some work to get done before tomorrow night, but if you have anything else that you'd like to ask, just find me, okay?" He finally added, messing up his nephew's ash red hair before walking out the room to deal with business.

Now he couldn't wait until tomorrow.

The night had drawn on slowly, every single hour feeling like an eternity. Even with heading down the streets in the morning, he didn't care as much about the others disowning him for what he was just like what they do every other day. The anticipation was killing him but with patience, time had gradually gotten quicker, each minute dropping down to zero. But after patiently waiting, it finally came to the award.

Gaara quickly rushed home to Yashamaru, who was standing by the doorstep, awaiting for the small child. He was carrying a bouquet of desert roses, the only flower that was possible to grow and stablize in the harsh conditions that the Land of Wind had for the majority of the time. Although they were common and simple, the beautiful blend of pink and white petals latched onto together in small bundles was what made them the perfect gift.

"Woah, slow down. I'm sure that whoever that you are seeing will wait patiently is she is there first." Yashamaru responded to the red-head's eagerness with a humorous smile and a light laugh in his voice. "But here, I'm sure that she will love these..."

He handed down the bunch to Gaara, who held them carefully in both of his hands.

"Thank you, uncle." He responded happily.

"Now, go have fun on your little date." He responded in a teasing fashion, making Gaara blush uncontrollably.

"It's not a date." Gaara quickly said in protest, even though his flustered face said otherwise but with turning to glance at him, the look he gave with just his eyes alone was unlike him. It showed a hint of agonising guilt for some unusual reason, despite a bright smile on his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked rather innocently. The last thing that he wanted to see was the one family member that he was close to be conflicted or hurt in anyway. Either way, the guilt disappeared the moment that he was asked that he was alright. Deep down, he wasn't, for reasons that he couldn't just openly state. After all, he didn't want to cause any unnecessary pain to the boy, not when someone else has arrived to keep him from falling into a darkness that nothing can escape from.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." He responded a little more quietly. "I just have some important matters to deal with."

Gaara was sceptical about what had just happened, but he knew when to not push it and ask more questions. Besides that point, he didn't want to keep Kiyo waiting, although what he was about to find was a very disappointing reality.

With that, he unleashed one of his hands momentarily to wave to Yashamaru as he left to the meeting grounds.

With arriving to their usual meeting place, no one but himself was around. The area was eerily silent, mainly because it wasn't time yet for when everyone came out of the cooled down homes. It was still quite warm, but never-the-less, it was still bearable.

Maybe that was the reason why she hasn't shown up yet. Perhaps she was just busy and running late. Gaara had kept his hopes up that that was the case. It had to be, right?

Time had gone by just as slowly as it did for the rest of the day. The waiting game was anything but fun, especially with noticing how all the civilians were coming out of their homes to do what they needed to do. Gaara couldn't even hear the noise of the adult's conversation, the children laughing with joy and glee. In fact, there was something that spoke even louder than all of that combined, and that was the unnerving silence of not being able to hear that one certain voice, the one that he strived to hear once again.

But even waiting, no one came…

No voice could be heard…

The night sky soon came along, the bright blend of colours eventually lost in a dark navy blue.

Did she really abandon him like that? No, it wasn't possible. She promised him.

 **Flashback Start**

" _Hey Kiyo?" Gaara began to speak just as the female was about to leave. It was getting dark and their time together was done for the day. However, Kiyo had remained for a little longer to answer what was on her friend's mind._

" _Hm? What is it, Gaara?" She asked with a sense of curiosity._

 _He didn't say anything at first, as he felt that what he needed to say was just pushing it a little too far. Maybe it was for the best to just brush it off as if he didn't really have anything to say._

 _That is if Kiyo didn't have anything to say about it…_

 _She confronted the male once again, kneeling down so that she was sitting on her knees. "What do you need to tell me? It can't be that bad."_

 _Gaara still remained silent, although took a deep breath to regain some sense of courage._

 _Here goes nothing…_

" _Promise me that you won't run away like everyone else." He finally said, looking up at her, eye to eye. If she was lying, this would be the case that he was able to tell whether their friendship meant something or not._

 _But never the less, everything that she was about to tell him was the truth._

" _I'll always be right here for you Gaara, and you know that." She responded, taking a hold of his hands lightly whilst she gave a confident smile._

" _I promise..."_

 _ **Flashback End**_

He began to replay the same flashback over and over in his mind, each time causing all hope to drop like a ton of bricks. It was unexpected, and that was the worst part of it all.

Perhaps she just forgot. Yeah, that must've been it…

However, he was naive to believe that. Just as he was about to wait a little longer, a brisk, cold wind struck him, pulling the bunch of desert roses out of his hand and into the night sky. Within minutes, they were impossible to see in the darkness.

That was a sure sign, a symbol that allowed Gaara to take the hint that he was alone once again, that the girl he so longingly awaited for was not going to show up. He felt used, abandoned even and even though those were the emotions he had felt every single day of his life, it felt so much worse now.

Maybe it was for the best that he remained alone and accepted his destiny in being nothing but a weapon…

The night grew even more colder as time had stormed on. It was once again quiet. Most had been safely in their beds, fast asleep for the next impending day. Most but Gaara.

Once home, there was no one around. Not even Yashamaru. He must of still had some important business to attend to. Instead, he went up onto the rooftops for some time to think everything through. After all, there wasn't much point in trying to sleep either. Every point in time he wasn't careful and went into a deep, unconscious phase, this was always the time where Shukaku was unleashed upon the village. Even though everyone hated him, the feeling wasn't mutual. Revenge was the last thing he wanted to give back.

However, it didn't seem the same on the other end.

He stared down at his hands, which were trembling uncontrollably, tears building up almost like an ocean in his eyes.

"Why… Why am I the only one that's a freak? What am I!?"

In the moment of peace and tranquillity, there was a disturbance. Even in the silence, Gaara had been alerted to nearby enemies, thanks to his chakra infused sand that was believed to contain his mother's essence and love, giving him an automatic defence against the kunai knifes that were used in order to assassinate him.

He quickly turned around. One enemy who had their face hidden. Now that the young Gaara was fully aware of the situation, he was able to defend himself against the second round of kunai knives

In a moment of panic and anger, much because of the fact that they were attacking him, he trapped the enemy in sand. Struggle as the mysterious person might, the inevitable was going to happen. With just one quick movement of his hand, the body had imploded, leaving the person in a near to death state.

Quickly, he snapped back to reality, the, cold murderous look in his oceanic blue eyes finally calming down to mere innocence as if he knew that he has done something wrong. And he did. The proof was the body he had just mauled that was just lying in front of him, although still alive.

"Who? Why?" He questioned, his voice shaking just as much as his body. He wanted to know the truth, but what will the outcome be of it all? Unknown to him, just by removing the cloth covering the majority of his face, it was his worst nightmare.

Just as he was about to reveal to himself who it was, the mystery man did it himself. Gaara's eyes widened with shock and despair, the tears that have grown in his eyes finally streaming down his face like a river. He even dropped to his knees as his entire body just shut down entirely from the truth.

It was not just any sort of Shinobi that was trying to kill him.

It was none other than Yashamaru...


	2. Chapter 2

It only took one moment for the red head's world to fall apart. Everything that was going so right was just suddenly taken away from him. His heart shattered, pain overwhelming his entire being. He could only just get his words out through struggling to keep in tact for one last minute, that one last moment that he seen the last slither of life leave Yashamaru's eyes.

"Why?" He sobbed out, the grown man's sight slowly crawling over to Gaara, although his expression never changed in the slightest as he spoke, blood streaming down his head and lips.

"It was an order. I was ordered to kill you Gaara by Lord Kazekage, your father. Your existence has proved to be far too dangerous for the village, so we had to kill you before the Shukaku goes out of control."

Gaara stared at him as he stated so, although there was no emphasis of shock in his expression. In fact, he was more angry for what his father did. However, the fact that he mentioned so had brought up a point, one of which he hoped and prayed was the truth. After all, with being on the brink of insanity, all he needed was a sense of good news. A small smile of essential hope crawled onto his face.

"You… You had to obey my father. You didn't have any choice..."

"You're wrong. I did have a choice. Your father made his wishes quite clear. I could have refused them."

That was when the smile had dropped out of pure horror from what he had just heard. In fact, it was safe to say that he didn't expect him to admit something like that.

"I guess it's because..."

"I hate you, Gaara..."

That had done it. Everything else that the man had to say to him was heard in fragmented words, every other word that he had identified was pieced together and soon made sense. He was blaming him for Gaara's mother, his sister's death.

Why would he reveal something like that? Was all that he told him just one big lie? Did he not care for him? Of course, it seemed to be that what he was saying was the truth. There was no signs of a smile or a chuckle. He was being dead serious. Or so he thought.

In reality, and in secrecy, Yashamaru wanted the young boy to survive, to become strong enough to control the beast within him, even if it meant plunging him into a world of hatred and darkness, where the only love he could give was to himself.

But that wasn't all…

In order to create one last assassination attempt, the man opened up his vest, explosive tags stuck down across his chest and stomach, covering every form of skin within that area. Just the moment that he allowed the night air to make contact, the tags activated, giving them only seconds to react.

Boom.

The roof exploded in a loud, fiery explosion that was visible to every part of the village, but only for a brief moment. Luckily, Gaara wasn't harmed as his sand protected him. But the same couldn't be said about Yashamaru. As soon as the effects of the tags wore off, all that was left was a small, shallow crevice from where the body was. However, there was no signs of the body even being there. Yashamaru was gone. He had officially committed suicide.

There were no more tears, no signs of sympathy that came from Gaara. In fact, it was safe to say that after witnessing such a distraught message that came from the one person that he thought cared for him, he had finally snapped. His sand coursed from his body, slashing his forehead in such a precise manner. It had imprinted the word for 'love', symbolising hatred for everyone by himself.

Red vein like marks slowly began to crawl into one of his teal eyes, his body morphing and shape-shifting in such a painful and merciless way. Judging by the murderous snarls and screams, it was safe to say that Shukaku has finally come out to play…

The little boy that was so innocent was now getting controlled by the beast, the true monster. Sand coated one side of him at first before enveloping him in an entirely new body, a huge and powerful one with a sand like colour, curse marks coursing down it's limbs and body. Before he knew it, everything had gone dark for Gaara and the One Tailed beast had taken over, fully aware and prepared to rampage the village, bringing it down into chaos.

Within just a matter of minutes, that was what precisely happened. The large beast stormed down the streets of Sunagakure, wrecking every building in sight and terrorising all the citizens that had little to no power to stop the creature. Screams echoed in the night as the once known child of their faithful leader was crushing every weak human being. Even the Shinobi that were military trained for this sort of incident were having trouble stopping it, weakening it enough to put it back into a comatose state. In fact, the situation seemed so much different than before. Gaara wasn't fighting back at all.

Shukaku was more powerful than ever, and all because he was feeding on the young vessel's deep hatred and rage.

Once the critical situation was announced, everyone that resided in the village began to evacuate with the help of Kankuro and Temari, all but the Namakazi family. Since the mother and father were once ninja, working under the village name, they too had their responsibilities in stopping the out-of-control creature, but that only meant that Kiyo, despite being as young as she is, would have to follow the crowd, keep up and escape safely. They couldn't assure their own safety taking into consideration of the many who tried to control the creature were severely injured, or worse yet, died, but at least they could try to protect their only child in any way possible, even if it meant facing the monster face to face.

Everything was left the way it was. They didn't even gather any sort of essentials. All they could do with so little time was to sneak out and hope that they didn't gather any unwanted attention. However, considering how everyone was quite far compared to them, they feared that what they were trying to escape from would soon find them.

After minutes of running in a certain direction, witnessing all the destruction that Shukaku had caused on the way, they soon reached an untouched area that of which was closer to the only exit, a large cavern that lead to the outside world. Never had she even set foot outside of the village, nor did she expect to so soon, but with the everything being pressed for time, it didn't leave her any time to take it all in. She would have to make a run for it.

"Be safe… I promise we will try to find you as soon as all of this is over." Both her mother and father stated simultaneously, both giving loving smiles. This was proceeded by them giving Kiyo one quick yet meaningful hug before heading off to face the One-Tailed Beast.

Aside from the faint footsteps quickly fading to silence, all that could be heard was the soft crackling of some of the buildings from the direction that they came from, a silhouette of the beast dancing in the moonlight from the middle of the village. Did Gaara really do this? It was hard to believe that someone so kind and gentle could turn into a vicious monster. Now she understood why everyone was so scared of him, but what she also considered was that all of this, every life tortured and harmed, was all because of her mistake to obey her parents orders.

Someday she would have to own up to the consequences of her own actions, but what she didn't expect what that it would be so sudden.

A roar of dismay was sounded out from nearby. It was definitely the Shukaku, but where? From just that moment that she made her regrets about leaving the boy she really did care for alone, the beast was gone, but only from it's original place to where she had spotted him moments ago. But now, even after a split second, she realized that he was now nearby...

It had found her…

"So you were the little squirt who hurt him..."

The voice was rugged and deep, a voice that was so unfamiliar to her but at the same time, she knew exactly who it was. She slowly turned to the grovelling beast, not even the slightest phased. She knew that there was no escaping his wrath, not when he was just one swipe away from ending her life. If she was to survive what she had coming to her, she would do what she could to apologise for everything.

Her head became lowered, an overcasting shadow from the light emanating from the flames hiding the top half of her face. Within seconds, water became dripping down her cheeks, droplets building up on her chin before dropping to the ground in droplets.

"Tell Gaara… I'm sorry..."

These certain words surprised Shukaku, although not in a pleasant way. As a creature that was created with the intention specifically for evil, he seen no point in such pettiness. It knew nothing of friendship, family, nor love. In fact, what the young child told him infuriated him.

"You… You expect me to fall to your weak minded species in such a way!? I will make sure that you are dealt with, one way or the other..."

Shukaku's voice gradually became low and dark by the end of his sentence, and within the moment that he raised his clawed hand, Kiyo was pretty sure that she had heard one single word leave his jagged lips.

Die…

The impact was quick and painless for a brief moment. In fact, she couldn't quite tell what hit her in the first place. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion at first, the crying screams of horror from her parents who were late in coming to her rescue was nothing but a slow, dulled moment. She could barely hear over the ringing in her ears. That was when things took the turn for the worst.

After the first direct strike, she took a second and a third, to the point that she could barely stay conscious for much longer. However, the third had struck the side of her face, causing her vision to immediately go black in one eye. All she could see in the other was the colour red.

Blood. Lot's of blood.

She couldn't move at all after she had finally struck land, and not through paralysis or fear, but just by the fact that every part of her body was in agony, to the point that she had went numb in every way possible., psychically and emotionally.

This was her time. Although she was still young, she paid the price for betraying the one person who could truly end her life. The red stained environment quickly faded into a dark void, everything growing cold instantly. Now all there was was to wait, to see whether or not she would be able to survive another day, or to die in the spot that she laid upon.

It was all of a matter of seeing what fate had in store for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Life at that point seemed meaningless. It was only a matter of whatever almighty force wanted of her. Was she useful enough to the point where she could live to see another day. At first, she would have said no in an instant, but now, she was unconsciously questioning herself. For being so young, she swiped away the thought of death as soon as it was mentioned, but now she understood what these Shinobi, these human beings were fighting for.

Survival…

Not just for themselves but for their family and friends, for those who they loved and held ever so dearly; Even to those who were complete strangers in their eyes.

Kiyo was scared. For being so close to meeting beyond what regular humans could even imagine, let alone witness, she wanted to remain alive, to see her family again, to look at Gaara with her own two eyes and apologise face to face. He deserves that at least, right?

Her world was just a pitch black, endless void, no ends in sight and with her dead in the middle, her spirit floating there in a half dazed state. This was what true loneliness felt like, what Gaara has been tormented with ever since he gained the ability to walk and talk on his own.

That reminded her. Although the memory was extremely fragmented, she could mainly make out what had happened before she went unconscious. She couldn't even tell what was happening within reality but as far as she could tell judging by how she was still hanging on, they managed to seal Shukaku once again and restore at least enough of the village for it to be habitable once again. That thought alone relieved her, but where was her body, and how was she going to get back to her own reality? With a whole bunch of nothingness in sight, the idea of forcing her way through seemed impossible. At least, that wasn't until her body was stabilised enough to with-hold a soul once again.

She couldn't tell how long she had been wandering around in the world between reality and death. It seemed to be that time wasn't a thing at all. Was she gone for minutes? That hardly seemed reasonable. Days, even months seemed to be the appropriate answer. Even years if she was unlucky enough. All she could do is wait and see.

However, it seemed to be that she was gaining a second chance. Despite being in a half-dazed state, her attention was caught by a small, white dot in the distance, which gradually continued to grow more and more until it became a blinding light that soon got so close to her being, to the point that she could hear voices echoing from the other side.

That was her way out…

Her hand stretched out to reach for the light, towards the voices beyond this world that she was once trapped in. Before she knew it, the bright white light wasn't just something that she could unconsciously see, but she could feel it radiating against her cold, dangerously pale skin. She couldn't move just yet, but at least she knew that she was alive.

Her eyes slowly began to open up, her vision still quite fuzzy and…

Halved?

Despite her sight being blurry to the extent that she could only make out a certain form, the other half of her sight remained in pure darkness. What did happen? The last thing that she could remember was everything covered in red and black. Not much else on the matter for now. Either way, the instant though of being partially blind was enough to bring tears to her eyes, and deep down inside, she was panicking. A lot...

"She's awake!" Cried out a mysterious male voice that made the girl jump out of her skin.

Her stiff neck slowly etching it's way to the side to look at the doorway. There was a group of medical ninja, all wearing floral white outfits, as was expected for those in that specific field. As well as that, behind her glazed over and bagged eyes, she noticed two familiar individuals entering the room.

"Mom? Dad?" She managed to croak out, bringing a heart warming smile to her mother's face as they got as closest as they could, although she couldn't say the same about her father.

"You really did give us a scare back then. You should have ran when you had the chance." Her father said in a scolding fashion, but a relieved smile slowly formed on his face within a matter of moments. "But we are so glad that you are going to be okay..."

"How...How long have I been out?" She managed to mumble out clearly, shifting her head to look back up to the roof. The two parental figures shared an unsure look, as if they didn't know whether or not they should reveal the truth. After speaking through their expressions, they finally agreed in their decision.

"Six months..." Her mother admitted, after pausing with hesitation.

Her heart sank when they mentioned that she had been out for six months. That was half a year! Along with her body failing to function and will be that way for a while, she had already missed out on so much, especially at the academy. There wasn't much chance of her graduating the same time as the others, not unless there was a miracle about to unfold. After experiencing such a terrifying experience, she had a new respect for the Sand ninja.

"And my sight? Will it come back?" She asked immediately after, although it was clear that doing so was straining her voice.

"Easy there, don't talk so much..." Her mother said with a sigh of grieve. "Unfortunately, even though the best we've got was able to restore your entire body, your eye was beyond saving..." She said whilst giving a softened look as a response to give comfort and reassurance that everything was going to be alright.

However, she had a feeling that that wasn't going to be the case.

"Oh, Lord Kazekage informed us that he requested your presence as soon as you make the recovery. He said that he had something important to speak to you about. That was only if you were to wake up..." Her father announced, which received an irritated nudge from his wife.

Either way, she didn't take any sort of offence to his final comment, which caused a humorous smile to grow on her face, but even then, she still had her time to recover. That would at least give her enough time to wonder what the fourth Kazekage wanted with her for it to be so urgent.

For the remaining six months, it had been a long and rough recovery. With her body seizing up completely from remaining still for so long, regaining the ability to walk wasn't exactly a 'walk' in the park . As painful and stressful as it was, she managed to endure it all, although a certain thought kept her mind busy ever since the day that she came back to life.

But time was growing closer to her expected meeting with the Village leader, the Kazekage. Even with all that time alone, she couldn't figure out what he wanted with her. But she was now able to leave the hospital. She was able to finally get some answers that she sought. Even though she didn't know exactly whether or not she should expect the worst to come.

The sunlight was blinding as soon as she stepped out into the outside world for the first time in six months. The air smelled so fresh compared to the disgusting medicinal smell that fragrance the room. However, it was just a lingering scent so she couldn't complain at all.

But what grabbed her attention

But even with leaving the hospital, everybody that they passed by began muttering the moment that they spotted the girl. Some of their conversations were hard to listen into as they were too quiet, but there were also some that she could hear. A few good, a few bad, but what truly shook her up was by one comment by a complete stranger that had asked 'What happened to her eye?'

He knew nothing… He didn't know what sort of hell that she was facing. That alone dropped her confidence to the ground. As a result, this forced her to immediately remove the headband that kept her bangs in place that had overgrown over the months. No matter what, she wasn't ready to reveal her 'disability' to the world. Not just yet…

Every step towards the main building was one second closer to finding out what she needed to know. The anticipation was killing her, but at the same time, she couldn't even describe how nervous she was.

Although this was the case, it didn't take too long before they reached what was the remains of the Kazekage building. Although still in tact from the attack that took place months ago, it was still undergoing construction. She wasn't all that surprised about that, considering the Shukaku had came out at around that specific location so it was understandable that it suffered the most damage in the chaos.

Because of this, the entire building was packed with construction people, to which it took a little longer to get to the Kazekage's office but never-the-less, they made it and judging by the fact that the door opened immediately upon knocking, it was clear that Rasa had already been notified, and waiting for their appearance.

It had been Baki who had welcomed them at the door and escorting them inside, to where Rasa was doing some paper work, mainly just the usual mission requests, security and military precautions and anything in between.

"Hayate-kun. So good to see you again." He responded upon looking up from his work desk, his slightly narrowed eyes glancing towards him as he stood. Although they were relatively good friends from their past, their connection was nothing but professionalism, which made sense since Sunakagure always worked in a way where succeeding in missions was far more important than comradeship.

"And I see that you have brought along little Kiyo… Hello..." He then added moments after, his glance moving towards the little girl who hid behind her mother before proceeding to kneel down to her height to give his greetings.

Despite the fact that he gave a kind and welcoming smile, she could tell that it was all just an act in order for her to lower her guard. For what he did to Gaara, she could never forgive him for something like that…

She remained silent, hiding her face even more. Although Hayate gave her a stern glance, mainly because he was worried that doing something like that was considered to be quite rude, but the Kazekage simply just chuckled it off before standing back up onto his feet. "I'm surprised with how shy she is..." He imposed.

"Why did you want us to bring her here, Lord Kazekage?" Hayate quickly directed the conversation to the matters as to why they were brought there in the first place, to which it seemed that Kiyo was finally going to get her own questions answered.

Rasa sat back down at his desk, clasping his palms together and intertwining his own fingers, resulting in his mouth being hidden behind his fists.

"Kiyo's first mission… I want her to emigrate to the Village of the Hidden Leaf..."

An unnerving silence filled the room as soon as he stated what he said. A fire began to swell up in Hayate's gut, presumably a rising anger that he kept hidden until the fourth Kazakage could emphasise his plan of action.

"Although I don't believe that they are in anyway superior to us, I have heard there are some powerful Shinobi that would gladly train your daughter. If the facts are true, I want her to go there to train. As a result of becoming powerful enough, she will be welcomed back to the Sand, as long as she can successfully assassinate the Jinjūriki… My son..."

Kiyo's stomach twisted with all sorts of emotions towards the request given, all of which weren't good at all. She knew that he was an evil man, but the fact that he was placing a target on his son's head was something that she couldn't agree with. And she was sure to sound her voice.

"How can you even think about doing that to your own son!? After putting him through all that pain and misery, you really think that I'm going to accept something like that? He's a human being, not an object that can be used whenever you'd like..."

Before she could continue, her father dragged her back, giving an almost nervous smile upon seeing the man's patience just slowly but gradually shortening. Never had anyone spoke to him in such a way, so a way, he had to give the young child some form of recognition for standing up against him, despite being powerless.

"It's quite alright… Now are you going to accept this mission young one?"

Just as she was about to reject his request, her partial glance noticed both of her parents looking down at her, as if stating to go for it. After all, no one was sane enough to disobey the Kazekage's orders and if she did anything wrong, she was sure that it would be her parents that would receive the punishment.

She struggled to voice out the one word that everyone was awaiting to hear. It was like a sour, bitter lemon being rubbed on an open wound. It pained her to even just agree on something so vicious and unnecessary, but never-the-less, it didn't seem that she had a choice in the matter.

"Okay..." She muttered out in regret, to which Rasa nodded his head in agreement.

"Good… She will be leaving tonight with two of my finest men, so she won't face with much issues on the way to the Land of Fire..." He informed her parents. "And be sure to keep this quiet. If my son was to find out about this meeting, I'm sure that it won't end well for your daughter either..."

The two agreed to the conditions given. With everything that needed to be said was done, the family made their leave out of the room and the building. With so little time left before the sun was going to set, they would have to make their way back to their household to get her things packed.


	4. Chapter 4

Unknown to the family, time flew by within an instant, that short space of a few measly hours wasn't enough time for them to state their good-byes, or even spend their time together. Hayate and Natsumi wasn't going to be seeing their daughter for a very long time. Although it was guaranteed that it would take years, considering that she would have to make jonin rank to say the least, anything from then could happen. Worst case scenario, she may end up dead by the hands of an enemy during a mission.

Just this thought process was precisely why the two of them wanted to reject the long term mission that was provided, but then again it was the Kazekage, someone who held what could potentially have far more experience and wisdom than any other Shinobi in the village. They couldn't just allow their feelings to get in the way so senselessly. There must have been some reason other than revenge that the Kazekage wanted Kiyo to perform the assassination, but soon enough, as time goes on, that moment will just be a memorable moment in the past. Any sort of questions that they had would have to remain unanswered.

Soon after the sun had set, leaving the world in a dimly lit darkness, that was when they moved out to the front entrance. There had been two Shinobi there awaiting for their arrival. The girl recognised them but only by face alone, but judging by her parents expressions, it seemed to be that they were trustworthy enough when it came to protecting her during her first journey away from home.

The two knelt down to their child, embracing her in one final, tight hug as a way of giving their last good-byes.

"Now you be good for these gentleman, okay? I promise you that they will take good care of you until you reach Konoha..." Natsumi mentioned quietly with a small smile, although just by her eyes alone, it was safe to say that she was holding back tears, as well as her sadness. It was a heart-breaking moment for a mother to let go of her child, especially when she was so young.

"Okay, mom..." She responded, to which her father messed up her red locks of hair by quickly shifting his hand through multiple strands.

"And when you get back, you will be just as strong as your mother… And from experience, may have the same temper..." Hayate whispered to her, although judging by Natsumi's expression, she didn't seem too pleased by his comment. In fact, Kiyo wasn't exactly sure whether or not the look her mother gave was a warning or a threat. But it definitely seemed that Hayate took the hint.

"What was that?"

"Nothing my dear." He quickly said, a nervous sweat running down from his forehead to his frontal lobes. "Just trying to break the tension is all, considering this is a big moment for all of us, Kiyo especially."

That alone was something Natsumi couldn't argue with but never-the-less, their time was finally up…

"We should get going…" One of the Shinobi stated, to which Kiyo nodded hesitantly and approached them. Just as they began to walk out of the cavern, Kiyo turned to her parents.

"I promise that I will make you guys proud!" She yelled out, giving one final wave before turning her slow pace to a jog in order to catch up with her escorts, leaving her parents in a state where her mother began to cry. It wasn't something that Kiyo wanted to see, but she couldn't keep waiting. Otherwise, as impossible as it sounds, it would just make the situation even more harder than it was first intended.

Within minutes, they finally made their way out of the cavern and there lied what seemed to be an endless desert ahead of them, nothing but sand as the eye can see. It was certainly going to be a long, and rough journey ahead.

"If you get tired, or you can't keep up, just tell one of us and we will carry you, alright?" One of the men said with what seemed to be a deep, smooth voice.

As much as the fact that she wasn't so keen on the idea of being carried, it was most likely for the best. She nodded in confirmation, to which the talking came to an end, and to where they finally began their journey across the desert.

Between the rough terrain, as well as the intense heat of the morning sun, it soon began to become even more challenging for the child to even keep up. Her sprint eventually turned into a mixture of jogging and walking, as well as the fact that she couldn't find any point to catch her breath properly. However this didn't go unnoticed.

The two Shinobi stopped in their tracks and one was about to offer a piggy back ride for the time being until they made their first stop to rest, but that was before his glance looked up to notice the oncoming sand storm in the distance, approaching them at an alarming rate.

"We will need to take shelter for now..." He stated loud enough for the two of them to hear. "We will hide away in the caverns for now, just until the storm subsides, although if we are lucky enough, it will end soon enough."

That was precisely what they did. From convenience only, there had been a small fortress type rock formation that would be enough to keep them from getting effected by the sand. But there was more to it than what was first stated. The reason as to why Shinobi kept hidden when the occasional sand storm came about was because of the fact that many who embarked and risked going out during one often got lost and in extreme cases, died of starvation and thirst. As long as they were unable to gain their bearings, it was best to get to safety for the time being.

As expected, the Sand Storm had came within minutes upon them getting into shelter. The entirety of the area was covered with a thick fog of sand, making it practically impossible to see the outside world. Even the sky was blocked off by a sand filled mist.

However, as time went on, it didn't seem that it was going to stop any time soon.

Other than the bustling sound of wind, and the tapping of grains of sand hitting the rock structure, the three humans within remained in silence for the most part, leaving them in a more awkward situation. At least that didn't last for too long.

"Here..." A kind voice said as Kiyo raised her head to see what the man opposite from her was emphasising. He was holding out a water canteen. With giving a small nod and a smile out of gratitude, she used both of her hands to hold it, one on the bottom of the leather-like material, and the other nearby the top.

She took a drink out of it, making sure that every last drop of water that she indulged wasn't spilled. With this type of conditions that they were travelling in, it seemed to be that water was a more valuable source that needed to be rationed carefully.

Upon taking a small drink, enough to quench her thirst, she had been confronted by a harmless question.

"So… I suppose that you are missing your parents already?" The man then said, at least trying to impose some sort of conversation with the quiet individual.

Once again, she nodded. "Yeah… If I did have the choice, I would much rather have stayed with them but I guess orders are orders..." She finally said, her one green eye set on the two. "But I'm curious, what exactly is Konoha like?" She asked, as if she wanted to change the subject just slightly so that it wasn't at a more personal level.

The two Shinobi shared a quick glance before giving a leisurely smile at first.

"Unfortunately, we have only been there for business… But as far as we can tell, it's a striving village with lots of good people. The area is surrounded by lush, green forestry. When it comes to variation, they take the prize, although us Sand Shinobi is proven to be relatively better when it comes to military combat."

Just the sound of what the village was like sounded like heaven to the small girl, aside from what could be a large population of people. The forests outside the village were so peaceful and serene. They would be perfect for training or even taking some spare time to explore.

"Then I can't wait until I can see it for myself… Although, has anyone around my age been able to do something like this?"

The two Shinobi shook their heads.

"Oh..." She mumbled, resting her back against the smooth surface.

"Get some rest. We will wake you up if the storm subsides then. You will need all the energy you can get to make it all the way..."

He was right? Judging by her low stamina, as she hasn't used her chakra reserves at all, some rest wouldn't hurt at all. Before she knew it, she fell into into a light slumber, and whatever light was left in the environment disappeared into darkness.

Soon enough, she felt a slight nudge on her shoulder, her neck bouncing around from side to side which awakened her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to notice the two men 'standing' just outside the rock formation. As far as she could see from what was behind them, the storm had finally subsided, leaving a lovely golden glow on the sand and the skies a pale aqua colour.

"It's time to get going..."

In order to keep within their schedule, they didn't have much of a choice but to have Kiyo piggy back one of the men. Luckily, she was light enough as it is so it didn't bother them too much. Besides, with nearing the land border between the country or Wind and Fire, travelling through tree tops was the easier route, something that Kiyo wasn't ready to do yet.

As expected, the trip took three days and three nights, with small breaks during the day time to regain some form of strength to carry on. But never-the-less, the eventually made it to their destination.

The Sand was welcomed with the symbol of the Leaf imprinted on the top as well as a series of large, green gates with red writing painted on them. They were open, which was most likely for those who were visiting, or any of the ninja from the Leaf that was returning from missions outside the village.

Once entering the gates, they were confronted by two Leaf ninja who were standing guard in case of anyone that looked to be sort of troublesome were to walk by. After all, with being the village that had sustained the longest period of peace, it was safe to say that they wanted to keep it that way.

However, since they had been informed of the situation, they allowed them past without any questioning, but rather were given a friendly greeting, and gave directions to where they should head to.

They were directed over to the Hokage building, to where they had seen two seemingly regular individuals awaiting for their arrival as soon as word had quickly spread that they were in the village. One was a relatively old man with a snow white goatee. He was wearing a set of white and red robes, along with a sort of hat that she had seen before. It was evident by the writing on the tip of the hat that he was the Hokage.

Alongside him was someone that was much younger, although it seemed to be that he was in his early twenties at best, despite his spiky, grey hair. He had the normal Jonin uniform of a khaki green vest, a long sleeved black shirt and dark blue pants, but what took the red head's curiosity was that as well as one of his eye's covered by his forehead protector, he also had a mask that covered practically every aspect of his lower face, which left very little to see of his facial appearance.

"Glad to see that you made it safe..." The Hokage said with a pleased smile as he stuck his pipe in his mouth once again, dragging a puff of smoke in the process before speaking up once again.

"And this must be the young one that will be joining with us today." He stated, his glance moving down at the green eyed red head, who had been hiding behind the Sand Ninja. Even with spending just those few days with her escorts, she grew comfortable with them within a strange and new environment where she didn't know anyone.

"Shy, I see… That's understandable." He responded with a kind expression. "But you will get used to your surroundings soon enough and hopefully will make some friends with some of the other kids… As for your training, you will have Kakashi as your mentor. As soon as you're settled in, you will go through introductions. If you have any questions until then, just come by to my office."

Without even given the child much time to answer, he left her in the capable hands of her new mentor and teacher.

Her glance moved back to the masked man, who closed in eye in the form that he was giving a smile, which was completely different from the bored, half-lidded look that he gave previously. She was unsure about the whole ideal now, but she had to accept it. This was her new home now…


	5. Chapter 5

It was only her and this man who went by as Kakashi. She knew next to nothing about him or what he was capable of. Considering how the Sand was a powerful country with powerful ninja, why was she brought here in the first place? There must have been some reason behind it…

"You're wondering why your here with me, aren't you?" A soft voice called out by her, attracting her attention immediately. Her slightly widened gaze moved from his to the ground as they reached her new home, an apartment complex.

However, she didn't say a word on the matter as they entered the building…

Kakashi gave a small sigh underneath the mask.

"The Hokage informed me of the situation, or more so what happened a year ago when the Shukaku attacked. You were blinded by the attack..."

That alone struck a raw nerve within her, and it showed in her expression. She wanted to retaliate, she really wanted to, but what she wanted even more was for this 'deal' to work out, so that she could see her family yet again.

"Who else knows about this?" She struggled to spit out, her fists clenching up in frustration.

"Don't worry. Other than the Sand, myself and the Hokage are the only ones who knows about it. Anyone else who knows about it is up to you. We don't want to push you into saying something that you are not comfortable with."

That was a relief…

Kiyo nodded as her answer. She took a few deep breaths in order to calm down, her tense form gradually relaxing as a response.

"Anyway, let's get to introductions." He responded with a cheerful tone, hoping to at least break the cold-hearted tension. He leaped in front of the girl, forcing her to stop at a halt, just as he came down to her height.

"Could you tell me your name, things that you like and hate, your hobbies and your dream for the future? If you give me that, I will tell you mines..."

Finally, she will finally get at least some sort of information on him.

"My name is Kiyo Namazaki, I like my family and friends, and what I hate…" She paused for a brief moment in thought. It probably wasn't the best idea to identify what, or more so, who she truly hated. Luckily, she was able to change the subject.

"As for hobbies, I don't really have much but my dream is to live long enough to see my parents, to make them proud." She said, her glance moving back up to him with more confidence.

"I see." Kakashi said with giving his 'signature smile' before his expression returned back to it's half-lidded eye one.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Never really thought about that. As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies. "

So she had her hopes up for nothing…

 _Are you kidding me?_ She thought to herself, but another question preoccupied her mind.

"Why did they choose you to be my mentor? I'm not trying to be rude or anything, just out of curiosity..." She asked.

Without any signs of cooperation, at first, she thought that it was something personal that he didn't want to share, or he was just being stubborn. It was most likely the second choice from what she could determine by his introduction.

But he finally spoke…

"Although I doubt that you have heard of them, but do you know of the Uchiha clan?" He began. At first glance, it seemed like he was trying to change topic, but judging by the glance he gave, he was as serious. However, this was going to go, she was just going to play along.

"I...I haven't..." She responded.

"Well, as well as their fire release techniques, they also have what is called Sharingan, a special type of genjutsu to where the user can predict their opponents movements..."

With stating so, he took a hold of the metal plating on his forehead protector, pulling it up to reveal a scarred eye, but that wasn't the what shocked her. What did so, however was what was within his eye.

His pupils was crimson red, with three sets of black markings in the middle. At first glance, it was something that she considered as… Uneasy?

"But, you aren't an Uchiha. Can it be passed down to other people?"

Kakashi nodded, although he didn't give any sort of hint of telling her his story about how he gained his.

"Anyway, I have business to take care of and you are probably tired from your journey here. We will start training tomorrow in the forest. Meet me by the front gates in the first hour of the afternoon, that should give you enough time to get prepared." He said, giving a wave of the hand before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Kiyo coughed and used her hand to clear up the smoke, only to realise that she was now alone in the apartment.

He was strange, she concluded but it seemed that they may be able to get along just fine in the near future…

Although it was her first night in a completely strange and different country, she had to admit that she had rested well. Or that the entire situation is so overwhelming and crazy, that she wanted for it to be one big, in-depth nightmare that she would wake up from. She hoped it was that and that she would find herself in the comfort of her old bed, with the smell of fresh cooking drafting into the room as she got ready.

But she woke up…

And there was no smell of breakfast, but instead an annoying alarm clock that continued to stubbornly beep until she stopped it... This was reality, her reality...

Just coming to that realisation made it that little harder to get out of bed, but the moment that she unfurled the curtains, she was blinded temporarily by the morning daybreak. However, the light, fresh breeze, and the magnificent detail of the scenery was definitely different from what she had experienced in the Sand. Perhaps living there wasn't going to be all that bad.

That reminded her, she would have to get ready soon for her first training session. She had in mind on what style of ninjutsu she wanted to use, but she doubt that she was anywhere near to begin using techniques. She would just have to wait patiently and see what the outcome of it all…

Everything seemed to be going well that morning. Nothing seemed to have gone wrong, considering how the room was prepared from a spare change of clothing that resembled the typical Shinobi uniform without the flak jacket, there was also a fresh food supply that would do her for a little while. Otherwise, she didn't exactly know what will happen when they ran out. She would have to worry when the time comes.

After, showered and clothed, she made her way out of the apartment and out into the unfamiliar outside world. In order to get back to the front gates in order to meet with Kakashi, she left a little earlier than what she intended so that she could take her time to retrace her steps from the Hokage building to the entrance.

Luckily, she made it on time. Just a few minutes though before the afternoon could stroll in. Then again, the only people that was around was the two watchmen in the security booth, who had happily started a conversation with her until Kakashi was to arrive.

But after time had passed, she could tell that he was late. Very late at that.

Where was he?

Was she in the right meeting place?

She began to question whether she was in the correct location, and was planning on looking around for him, but before she could even move one step forward, he had came into sight, but unlike before, was holding some form of book in his hand.

"Yo." He said casually whilst raising his hand in a waving gesture, as if there was nothing at all wrong.

"You're late..." She mumbled out loud enough for him to hear, but he didn't even seemed phased from her attitude or had any sort of motive in apologizing.

"I did say the first hour in the afternoon and it is still that so I'm technically not late." He stated with a shrug before placing his book back into his pocket, which pretty much irritated the girl. Her father was right in saying that she would soon get her mother's hot-headed temper. She was on the verge of so.

"Now, let's get going." Kakashi stated, gesturing his hand for his student to follow him to the forest.

This has almost been a daily thing for both Kiyo and Kakashi. For a few hours each day, he would teach her the practicality side of controlling her chakra, ninjutsu and weapon handling. It came to the point that within the first year she had been able to create her own clones, which was the one thing she needed for the first exam in order to graduate and become a proper kunoichi who could go on proper missions. She was even able to have friendly spars with him to master her skills, although it always ended with her lying on the ground, in utter defeat.

All of this and she wouldn't have been able to do it without her mentor and teacher.

She didn't even mind the comments that all the other kids made about her. At least not at first…

It has been four years after she had arrived in the Hidden Leaf Village, four years of basic training for her exam to become a fledged ninja. To her, despite growing even more stronger than before, she didn't have that same innocence that she came with in. In fact, she now had the eyes of a killer. She knew what her mission was and that was to get strong enough to assassinate Gaara. She didn't understand at first why the Kazekage would want her to do so, but now she has accepted her fate, her destiny.

The day finally came when students could finally show their skills to the Hokage and finally become official ninja that would represent their village. It was the first time that Kiyo had ever stepped into the Academy, and of course, this didn't exactly go as well as she hoped. It was just like when she left the hospital, all she could hear was soft and seemingly judgemental mumbling.

 _It's okay Kiyo, stay calm… You'll be fine…_

Once arriving, she had been taken in one of the classrooms that was currently filled with people, impatiently waiting to perform their task in order to graduate. Her glance moved around to notice a few people looking at her curiously, some even suspiciously considering how she was barely seen around. In fact, she believed it was because she hadn't even attended the Academy once.

Then again, their attention was soon to be directed elsewhere…

The examination started soon after she had arrived, and each person had been told to create some form of clone. All but one person, and that was a specific blond haired male who had been humiliated from his lack of skill, who was laughed at. Sure, he may have just been kidding around, but even she could tell behind all that was a lonely kid who just wanted some attention.

In a sense, she felt sorry for him, but she had her own problems to worry about.

Soon after, she had finally completed the examination and without any problems, passed the examination. Although from the fact that the examination went the was as planned, she couldn't help but feel happy about it all. The first time outside of training, she finally felt this feeling that every child should feel.

Although Kakashi was only merely her mentor, she seen him almost like a family figure, perhaps an older brother that she had to share the good news with.

That is, if she could find him in the village.

Luckily, among the parents, she had found him waiting outside, standing up against the tree. However, unknown to the sweet, once innocent child, the only reason he had done so was because he wanted to speak to her about something important.

"Yo, Kiyo… I've been wanting to talk to you..." Kakashi said upon noticing the girl rushing up to him, and judging by her happy expression as well as the new headband tied behind her red locks of long hair, it seemed that what he was wishing to say was going to make the situation even more harder to explain.

The joy and glee that was contained in the teenage girl's face quickly faded upon noticing the seemingly grim look in her sensei's one visible eye.

"What's wrong?" She asked. She had a bad feeling that she wasn't going to like the news at all.

"Well… You know when I told you that someday I may need to take on more students to train and help on missions. Today is that day. I am in charge of a team and unfortunately, that means that I won't be able to teach you any more..."

Kiyo's heart sank the moment that she heard this news, her mouth opening and closing as if gasping for air. She had every question stuck in her mind that she wanted to ask, but yet again, she couldn't even speak at all. Of course, Kakashi took precautions to this predicament.

"But as soon as the three I'm taking care of is able to go on missions on their own, I promise that I will make time to have some friendly sparring matches. I'm sure that someday that you will be able to beat me." He responded, holding his hand out to shake in order to make the deal.

That made her feel a little better. He did warn her beforehand when this day would come, so she couldn't argue at all, and he did say that he would use his spare time to challenge her skills. A faint, yet stubborn smile edged on her face as she gave a faint sigh.

"Fine, I guess we have a deal..." She said, slapping her hand into his, shaking it firmly.

Although the situation took a better turn than expected, it was about to go from good to worse in about ten seconds.

Kiyo had reached the door to the place that she had been residing in all that time but just as she unlocked the door, she noticed something peeping underneath.

A letter?

It came to her curiosity as to whom it may have been written by, considering how the only people who she even developed some from of closeness was Kakashi, but it couldn't of been him. After all, he would have just given it to her when he had the chance to see her face to face.

She opened the door and stepped in, grabbing hold of the brownish yellow package as a result. It didn't seem familiar to her until she spotted the logo of the Sand Village. It was then that her head propped up with internal joy. That just meant that her parents were trying to get into contact with her.

Swiftly but carefully opening the package, she took out the sheets of paper before proceeding to read them word for word.

Very quickly, the colour drained from the girls face, the brightness in her eye dulling down with such suddenness. Although there was no tears, it was the case that she was overwhelmed with shock, unable to understand what she had just read even though it was in black and white.

Moments after, her arms trembled as she read more, but half way through the document, her arms fell to her side like a rag dolls; limp and no life to them. A shadow soon began to over-cast her facial futures as she mumbled a few set of words.

"My parents… Dead… Gone..." She muttered, trying so hard to comprehend everything, although she had a feeling that she didn't even want to try and understand. Other than to assassinate Gaara, she had no other reason to go back, no other reason that she understood to fight for.

The heavy felling in her heart soon began to lighten back up, although this was not a good thing. All those suppressed emotions she had kept hidden all this time was now taking effect, causing her to become numb to any sort of emotional pain. After that letter that she still had within her hand, that was her limit to where she finally snapped.

She was no longer the same Kiyo who had left the Village of the Sand...


	6. Chapter 6

They normally say in order to deal with a broken heart, always go head towards your friends and family, but what happens if this is not the case? Then you keep on falling and falling to the point where you reach the deep darkness of your own soul that should not ever be released. All that it would leave is the broken tears of the heart; cold and dead, leaving the person in a way that would never be the same.

That was precisely the same thing with Kiyo.

That one year was potentially one of the longest and hardest in her life. Missions weren't even enjoyable. All she could think about was her one goal that she was fighting towards the reason why she was brought there. After all, what else was she even fighting for?

Frankly, she didn't have any sort of friendships, mainly because her sharp assassin instincts and looks scared everyone, kept them away from her.

Those spare few hours that Kakashi had made for her wasn't anything less than awkward. He could tell that there was a change in her, and her fighting style. She had grown even faster than before, more merciless. Sure, determination was something that he always strived to provide for his students, but this was different. He didn't even know what was wrong considering that he never brought anything up.

Every time he had met up with her, she didn't have that same look in her eyes. They were one's of a killer hungry for their prey. Perhaps he could get to her, bring her back to her original self. The last thing he wanted was for her to stray from the path of a Sand Kunoichi and become a criminal, just like the path Sasuke had taken.

"Kiyo, let's stop for a break for now..." He said, as he held the struggling female down on the ground. He had won another friendly spar against his student, but before they could finish for the day, he wanted to talk to her.

Kiyo had finally given up with trying to over power Kakashi and agreed to stop the fighting for now, but what she didn't expect was that within the silence of the forest, there would be his voice, asking a rather personal question.

"So, did anything happen whilst I was with team 7?" He asked.

For a split second, he could see the fear and hurt in her expression rise, but it was only for as said, a split second. Despite this, he could tell that something was definitely wrong, and she just wasn't telling him.

"Not particularly..." She stated, the lack of emotions making it difficult to decipher what she was thinking. If it hadn't been for her previous set of emotions, he probably would have believed it until another time. All he could do is guess what truly happened

"I'm not buying it... I've been around longer than you have, kid. And I've seen my share of troubles. It looks like neither of us has led a charming life, have we? Still, it's not that bad. At least you and I have been lucky enough to find new comrades to help fill the void."

Comrades? She didn't even know the meaning of that. After all, she was born in a country that prioritises individual strength more than comradeship.

She didn't even flinch or react in the slightest from his statement, causing a frown to form under the Jonin's mask.

"If this is about Gaara, forget about revenge. The fate of those who seek revenge is grim. It's tragic. You will end up suffering and hurting yourself even more. Even if you do succeed in getting revenge, the only thing that remains is emptiness. Change is important, and I am sure that by the time that you are ready, Gaara will change."

As much as she wanted to believe that, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was already empty inside.

"Then I will just suffer the consequences. You honestly don't even know how confusing this has been. What and who am I even supposed to believe? Do I even have a choice in any of this?"

Kakashi remained silent.

"Heh, I thought so… Look, I don't know all that much about you, even if it has been four years, so I'm not going to say anything else. You may understand the feeling of losing someone, but this loneliness, this confusion… You'll never be able to understand it..."

With so said, she left the battle ground. She had already been assigned a recon based mission to investigate a village that had been run down for some time, but what attracted the Leaf's attention was from the fact that there was people there that was killing anyone in sight. Her job was to get whatever mission she could and then get out of there.

Then again, that reminded her, the Chunin exams were meant to begin later on in the day, and judging by what she heard, it was supposed to be tough competition this year. Luckily, she took the exam and successfully gained Chunin status the previous year, all thanks to Kakashi's teaching.

If only she could stick around and watch. That is, until she found out that three certain siblings were there in the village to participate.

Kiyo had her head lowered in thought as she walked, the sound of several footsteps up ahead grabbing her attention. She looked up. Three people around her age was who she could see. Temari… Kankuro...

Gaara…

There was no doubt about it. It was him. She remembered that face, as well as the dark circles around his teal coloured orbs but there was something off. He had the same look as she had. It may not of been so obvious to others, but it was definitely there.

She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Should she attack and get things out of the way now? Or would that ruin the element of surprise in the future when she was to become even stronger?

It took a moment, but with walking by, her staring had been noticed by the older brother and it was clear that he wasn't taking any of it.

Without giving any sort of warning, Kankuro grabbed her by the rim of her shirt before proceeding to forcefully push her back against the wall as if it was some form of interrogation.

"What's your problem?" He asked in a rather angry tone, but the girl didn't even seem phased at all any more, which just angered the puppeteer even more.

"You gonna talk, or will I have to force some words out of you?"

"I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you..." She muttered out quietly for only him to hear, her glance moving up to him, but that wasn't what changed his expression.

Because of her bangs becoming undone by the unexpected yet forceful action, this caused her blind eye to be seen partially through the strands of hair.

"You..." Kankuro blurted out. It seemed that they knew about what happened four years ago, or even just the just of it. And that was exactly the case. He and Temari had heard about a girl in the Sand Village who had got caught up in Shukaku's rampage, or more so she faced it and suffered the consequences. Just like the rest of the village, the only thing that made her stand out was a blind eye. Other than so, all the knew was that she disappeared mysteriously and without a trace.

Up until now…

"Come on, Kankuro, let her be." Temari said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. The red hair looked familiar, but she couldn't for the life of her make out who it was.

"Say anything, and you will pay for it, got it..." She mouthed out quietly to the male, a glow of fury slowly emanating from her one eye.

Kankuro swallowed nervously, releasing his grip on the girl and backed away. It was obvious that she had scared him enough to stay quiet, at least about what he had just seen.

"Come on, let's go..." Gaara said in a monotone sounding voice, the two red heads glances meeting for the first time ever since they were kids. He has definitely changed. That one glance she could have sworn that if she was going to attack him, he would give her no mercy at all. He would have killed her right there and then…

However, he didn't…

The three decided to move on, leaving the lone girl on her own. The only thing that kept her company was her thoughts, as well as a dreaded fear the lingered over her. She now came to the decision that she didn't want to have any sort of quarrel with the male, but what did she have to live for if she didn't strive to kill him. Hopefully the answer will come to her in the nearby future…

Then she realized, she had her mission. She would have to leave then in order to make it by sundown, otherwise she would lose her advantage and the element of surprise, but never-the-less, that moment had left her shaken, even when she was away from them outside the safety of the Leaf. Even so, this didn't go by unnoticed. Turns out, their small conversation had caught the attention of some genin.

Days had passed since the beginning stages of the Chunin Exams. Word has it that one of the Sannin of the village, Orochimaru had infiltrated the second survival stage of the exam, however this was under all but team 7's noses. In fact, they were lucky to escape the forest alive. In short, Kiyo was happy that she had successfully passed the exam a year prior, especially considering a lot of the contenders were especially powerful.

But now that they had completed two stages and the first half of the one-on-one battles, they had a month to train well and hard, so that they were all prepared for what was coming to them.

But among all that training, they surely had to make at least a small space of time for their own.

Naruto had just finished a tough training regimen with his mentor, Jiraiya that required him to perform rasengan, a powerful ninjutsu that was initially created by the fourth Hokage, and as he thought that he deserved it, he quickly went to grab some ramen, one of his all-time favourite dishes. Even though it goes without saying, Ichiraku's ramen was one of the best in the business.

"Hey old man!" The blond-haired male greeted the older guy. "One ramen with everything, please!" He stated with a bright, enthusiastic tone. In fact, it was one of those that presumably could get obnoxious and annoying fast, but then again, for the half-blind female who had been sitting there for the time being, waiting patiently for her own meal to be served, she decided that it was probably best to just keep quiet and ignore him, so that she didn't start a scene on impact.

Naruto hummed happily before his big, aqua eyes caught onto the teen beside him. He had recognised her going around the town, however no one didn't seem to mention her. He even heard rumours about her being his own teacher's additional student before team 7 was formed, but he didn't mention anything of the sorts. All he knew personally was that she came from the Sand for whatever reason, and judging by her encounter with the Suna siblings before that he, Sakura and Sasuke had overheard in the last minute, it was obvious that they all knew each other, and most likely not in a good way.

"Hmm..." The blond-haired male continuously said as if in thought. He had been curious about this Gaara character that he had met the first time round. Even so, judging by his level of power in both offence and defence, he wasn't someone to take lightly, making him even more curious about him.

"Hey, hey..." He began loudly in order to attract the female's attention. As soon as she received her food within that moment, she gave an appreciative nod before moving her head to look beside her. What she had noticed first was his large, friendly grin.

What had first come was an introduction.

"Yo, the name's Naruto, the future Hokage!~"

And that's where it began. She gave a pause in order to make out what she was going to say. After all, with being socially awkward, it would be difficult to hold a conversation with someone that was so extroverted. That's right, he was the boy that was the 'class clown' during graduation. The last she heard, he didn't even graduate. It seemed that she was wrong…

"Hey… Kiyo..." She simply mumbled, turning her head away in disinterest in order to enjoy her meal with whatever patience she still had left. Judging by the fact that the establishment had fallen into a sudden awkward silence, it was clear that she wasn't one for conversations, however this wasn't going to stop the unpredictable ninja.

"Say, I heard that you came from the Sand. So, is there by any chance that you know about Gaara?" He questioned, a cold stare soon directed towards Naruto. This was merely a warning to stop right there but as oblivious as he was, he continued to push his luck

"Man, you should have seen him. He's crazy strong but honestly, there must be something wrong with him from his attitude."

The last part, he mumbled but Kiyo still heard every word he stated. Her hands tremble by the fact that he insulted him in such a way. He knew nothing of the sorts, and that's what angered her the most. Her trembling hands began to stiffen up, her unaccountable strength snapping the pair of chop sticks that she had currently held, the two ends of the wooden utensils collapsing underneath the rich tanned broth with a quiet plop.

Silence…

Kiyo took a deep breath in order to calm down, setting aside the split pieces of wood.

"Sorry, but can you wrap this up to leave?" She quietly said before giving the owner the exact change for her ramen, plus a little more for the troubles.

That matter had been solved, allowing her to leave the premises once her 'take-out' was prepared.

"And don't you ever mention Gaara in such a way to me again… You don't even know what he has gone through before..."

Seconds later, all that was left was the owner of Ichiraku's, along with the alone and completely dumbfounded customer. What did she mean that he didn't understand what he had gone through. Sure, this solidified the rumours that she came from the Sand and that she knew Gaara, but what did he really go through?

It was only a matter of time before he was to find out...


	7. Chapter 7

All that time in isolation had proved to be effective enough for her to start thinking. Throughout all those years, questions muddled simultaneously in her head, keeping her up every possible moment. She was thinking: Was she really capable of handling such a mission?

The answer to her prayers soon came into a bright light, into her own resolve. That happened to have been her own 'Will of Fire'. Konoha was now her home, even if she was to go ahead with her life- long mission she was given seven years ago, it was safe to say it was only bring more problems rather than solve any of them. She had finally decided to remain in the Hidden Leaf and protect whom she could with her own resolve and even now, she finally gained the courage to smile whilst doing so, even if it meant facing a fearful death.

But unknown to her, she wasn't prepared to meet the biggest obstacle in her life.

Her training had continued with Kakashi after Naruto had left the village, and each time the Copy ninja sparred with his student, it was obvious that there was improvement to her skills. Not only quick and nimble, but her strikes were just as precise as the last. The teacher really had it cut out for him this time round, though soon enough, the spar had ended with her defeat once again, the Hatake once again standing over her form, a constant dull look in his eye.

As per usual, it always ended with him informing her of her good parts, as well as criticizing what she still needed to improve. I guess this is what Shikamaru meant a 'a drag', she thought, prepared to listen into his hints on what would allow her to grow as a ninja. Though it seemed that had to wait when another Leaf member had appeared from the trees.

According to the fellow shinobi whom had been searching for her to give the younger woman a message, her presence was required by the Hokage for… Something?

That had been all the information that the man had given her, a sudden dread overwhelming her on what this 'something' was. For her sake, she hoped that it was anything but a lecturing for getting hurt that last mission. Though, then again, it had been her fault for falling into such a simple trap. With an audible sigh of defeat, she gave a nod in confirmation to the man's message.

"Alright, I will be there as soon as I can…"

That dreaded feeling didn't leave her gut at all until she had reached the door of the office. With a few subtle knocks and entering, there had been the fifth Hokage doing paperwork, and with a calm, collected expression that didn't look like that she was going to beat Kiyo have to death with her might.

Just as the thought made her spirit waver with fright, it seemed strange that she would call her up for something completely different.

"You wanted to see me, Lady Tsunade?"

With a brief nod of the blonde's head, she had taken out a couple large envelopes, tightly sealed from underneath her desk space.

"I believe I can trust you to deliver these for me. They are highly important documents that I am trusting you to deliver as soon as you can."

What a relief… At least she wasn't getting her butt kicked… At least this time…

"But where to?"

"To Sunagakure… I want you to deliver these to the Kazekage…"

That was truly when her heart dropped into her stomach. Did she say… Sunagakure?

"Ah, you must be mistaking me for someone else…" She said rather timidly, through behind that nervous smile, she hoped that she would set her aside and let someone else handle this job. But, it didn't seem that she would get away from this _that_ easy.

"Judging by your former alliance with the Sand, as well as the fact that I know that you have unfinished business, I am trusting you that you will accept this job."

"But…"

"I said that I trust you with this. If this is about Gaara, you don't have anything to worry about. Just like you, he's changed quite a lot. I doubt that he will prove trouble…" Tsunade interrupted the younger girl before she could make up some excuse of being unable to go. After the death of the Third Hokage whom was responsible for her as a kid, all the information based around her was passed down. She knew everything… But now in the middle of this conversation, her glance had darted to the women's expression. Impatience was what she saw. If she would continue this type of behaviour for any longer, she was sure to just snap.

With an inaudible sigh of defeat, her body slightly slacking in a relaxed position, she finally spoke up once again after the brief moment of silence.  
"Very well, I will take these to the Sand… But I just hope that you are right…"

With that now out of the way, the red head took the package and headed off towards the Land of Wind.

* * *

'It will be fine', she said, 'There's nothing to worry about'. Even still, the thought of being found not only by Gaara, but by his siblings was enough for her to slow down her pace enough so it was like a stroll in the fresh green forestry, a crisp breeze pushing her hair back and tangling a few strands. There had been a certain degree of warmth in the area, yet the shade of the treetops had stopped it completely.

But then again, what were the chances that she was going to get spotted by them once she returned for a short space of time? Sure, she may get recognised by a few of the elders, but she hoped that would be the most that would happen. Just the idea of being reunited with some family friends had brought a smile to her pale lips, though if she didn't want to get into any sort of trouble, she would have to keep the reunion short. That was it. She had decided that she would give the documents and leave the village…

Exactly three days had passed since she began her journey back to her homeland. Never again would she forget about the unbearable heat that the stretch of desert provided, each step of burning sand becoming more easing than the last. Even a line of sweat ran down from her forehead every so often and fell onto the dry, crumbling surface, evaporating within moments. After 8 years of living with decent weather, she didn't expect it to be just as hard as when she first left the village. Never mind, as far as she could tell by the direction of the sun, she was near enough to her destination, and luckily with no obstacles this time around.

The half blind kunoichi's pace slowed down into a brisk walk as soon as she reached the entrance of the village, two guards with their faces hidden standing just outside. They were blocking the entrance from intruders it seems. Did something happen?

"State your business…" One of the guards said, forcing the girl to stop at a halt.

That voice… She was sure that she had heard it before…

Could it be…?

"Genta? Hakaru? Is that you by any chance?" She had finally replied, only to be given a blank stare, the two masked Shinobi to give each other a swift glance.

"How do you know our names? That only other person that could have known our names besides Sunagakure is the little squirt we escorted years ago. Though we thought that she didn't make it due to no word given."  
With those little choice of words out of anything else that could be said, a spark of irritation instinctively grew in the female, yet there weren't any signs that she would lash out at anyone anytime soon. Though instead of giving them a direct answer with words, she showed her blind eye as proof that she still existed in this world.

She was still alive no doubt, which left the two dumbfounded to say the least.

"Little…Squirt?" Hakaru had managed to squeeze out between his lips, yet only to be given a firm response of her actual name. Genta merely laughed at her response, taking the few steps that were between them before ruffling her red hair.

"We are only just messing with you, don't worry. But how much you've grown! Honestly, you didn't even reach our waists the last time that we saw you. A fine, young lady you've turned into…"

"Yeah, if only I was years younger, I would have gladly asked you out." Hakaru interrupted with a large, cheesy grin, which quickly disappeared by a hard knock on the head by the older ninja.  
"Hey, why did you have to do that!?" He yelped out in pain, now holding a pout across his face whilst the girl gave a nervous laugh by his comment.

Even if she had grown, it didn't seem that these two have that much? Then again, it was that childlike innocence that would always bring happiness in a dark situation.

"So, what are you doing here exactly?" Hakaru asked out of mere curiosity. She didn't seem all that prepared for a full-on assassination attempt, so it clearly must have been something else…

"I have a package here to give to the Kazekage from Lady Tsunade..." She just vaguely said. Might as well remain straight to the point.

"Right this way, we will take you to him…"

With a bright smile by the both of them, their greetings had finally come to a standpoint, leaving them with the job of escorting her towards the Kazekage's office. Yet this came without being called out by a few older citizens, which were quite familiar during her childhood, though one of them stopping her in her tracks.

"My, here I thought that I would never see you again. After all, you gave us all a fright when you disappeared." The old woman whistled with a beaming expression that could surely make anyone's day.

"Sorry about that." Kiyo had responded with an uncomfortable tone, merely from the fact that no one, other than a select few had known about her immigrating. "… I've just had some things that needed to be taken care of for Lord Fourth back then. Though it's nothing that should concern anyone around."

"I… I see… Well it was definitely nice seeing you again, young lady. Look at you, you are just the picture of your mother…" She added as a compliment.

Though without this kind, old lady realizing, it stung her deep down into an old wound that Kiyo had thought had already healed, and it was pretty obvious by the slight change in expression.

"Oh… I…"

Kiyo had raised her hand slightly, giving a comforting smile behind every other emotion that she had thought that she gotten over by now. It seems that there was still something that she still needed time to accept.

"It's okay. I'm fine. Whatever happened to them was a shock, but I've moved on with my life. They were good people so I am sure they are in a good place."

The friendly old woman was clearly not buying into the facade, but to save the awkward moment, she merely just nodded.  
"Well, if you are staying, you are more than welcome to come by. I'm sure the rest of the family would be delighted to see you."

"I appreciate that, thank you. Anyway, I have some more business that needs to be dealt with. It was nice meeting you."

With a bow of formal gratitude, she finally headed back to her escorts that had stopped as soon as she had to speak with the villager. Though, after the sudden delay, it seems that that was the end of the surprises. At least for now.

Though, despite the fact that she got recognised so often, she made it outside the Kazekage's office without gaining notice of the red-haired boy. That being said, she didn't even see him around at all. What was going on?

Though, what she was expecting was to walk in and receive a harsh stare of a man that she detested, hated, the man whom began her true suffering since as a child. Just the thought of seeing his face boiled her blood. She wasn't prepared, but she sure as hell wanted to give him a piece of her mind, even if it meant resulting in her treachery in some form. She didn't care…

She didn't want to hurt anyone…

"Kazekage-Sama, you have a visitor." Hakaru stated after gently knocking on the door, opening it up wide enough for the girl to walk into the office. But what she seen was not the man she once saw as a little girl, the cold stare of a man whom had given up on his very own son. Instead, it was a calm look of teal blue eyes, a gentle look unlike what she had never seen from this guy.

"Gaara?"


End file.
